In short, a flash cart is a video game cartridge that will allow you to play games (ROMs) on real hardware. In most cases, playing a game from a flash cart is identical to playing the actual game cart. Flash carts can vary in features between models, each with their own pros and cons. Flash carts exist for many retro consoles.

Most flash carts are extremely easy to use. All the newer flash carts have the games stored on memory cards, such as SD or CF. It's as simple as this: Load some games onto a memory card, insert the memory card into the flash cart, put the flash cart into your console and play.

Older flash carts did not have removable storage. Instead, they had internal memory in which to store the games. They required a programmer to flash games to the cart's memory. You'd plug the programmer into your computer (usually with a parallel cable), plug the flash cart into the programmer, then use software to write the game(s) to the flash cart's internal memory. So, the programmer can be thought of as a card reader like the kind you'd use for an SD card. Flash carts such as these are no longer being made, since it’s much easier to use modern flash carts with removable storage.

Flash cart developers are taking advantage of using removable storage by having the cart load operating system or mapper files from the memory card. This means they can release updates (add new features, fix bugs, et cetera) and updating to the latest version is super simple. Just download the new version, copy the file(s) to the memory card (usually overwriting the old files) and the update process is done. This is important because it gives us the ability to add features to the flash carts that weren't implemented at the time of purchase. A lot of flash cart developers also make it possible for the community to tweak the OS and firmware. Examples of this will be noted. This can range from simple things like better looking or more intuitive menus, better game compatibility, to added features.

Since updating and adding features is possible, it can become confusing when trying to compare different models. You might read a review or comparison that was made before a major update that added important features. This write up that you're reading now will become out of date, although I'd like to try and keep it up to date as new updates and new flash carts come out. You should note the date an article or review was posted or last edited and compare it against the date of the latest update for any particular flash cart. Even then, that doesn't guarantee accuracy of information.

What are the main benefits of a flash cart?

Flash carts have a lot of benefits. For most of us, the main attraction is being able to download ROMs and play them on real hardware instead of in an emulator. This alone has a lot of benefits. A lot of retro games are becoming expensive, too expensive for some people. A flash cart becomes a way for people to play games that they couldn't otherwise afford.

Or let's say you have deep pockets and can afford all the expensive carts. You could use a flash cart to try out games before you purchase them. Or perhaps you just don't have the room for big collections. Or you have big collections at location X, and you don't want to transport them to location Y. Or you're just too lazy to physically switch carts.

Then there's fan translations, hacks/mods, and hombrew... there's an ever growing, endless list of them. A lot of great games never made it outside of Japan but have since been translated by fans (thanks!). A flash cart can be worth it for these games alone. Earthbound Zero, Secret of Mana 2, Star Ocean, Alien Soldier, Mega Man: The Wily Wars. Then there's hacks and mods, games that have been altered in some way. This can range from simple tweaks or bug fixes to full revamped games. If you're curious about translations and hacks, check out ROMhacking.net to browse some patches or check out this Racketboy thread: http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... 27&t=40912

Then there's the development side to flash carts. There are people out there that like to program for retro consoles. Homebrew and whatnot. Flash carts can be a great tool for them as a way for them to test their code on real hardware. And a great tool for you as a way to play their games on real hardware.

Useful Links:

https://krikzz.com/store/ - A direct link to the Krikzz Store. This is the maker of many of the flash carts that are currently on the market. His Everdrive line of flash carts make up most of what’s available today, which is why “Everdrive” is almost synonymous for flash carts. It looks like Krikzz has transitioned to Amazon fulfillment for his products.

http://krikzz.com/forum/ - Official Krikzz forum. Here you can find lots of great info about the flash carts, get help if you may need it, or get a sneak peek on upcoming updates and new devices.

https://stoneagegamer.com/ - A great store that sells lots of flash carts as well as other devices. They have a great service and come highly recommended. I've purchased from them several times in the past and have been very pleased each time.

I would like to list all known flash carts that are currently being manufactured and are available for purchase. I will not list carts that are no longer in production (especially those before removable storage was standard) but I will leave some up if I feel they are still good option on the used market. These writeups won’t be reviews per se. The main goal is to list the major pros and cons of each device.

As I've said above, today's flash carts are easily updated. The information found in this write up will become outdated time and time again. I will try and keep it up to date, but I suggest you do your own homework in case the information here isn't accurate or up to date. You should at least check the date this write-up was posted or last edited and compare that against the date of the last update for a flash cart.

I've included a link to the homepage for each flash cart so you can get more info there (and possibly updated info). These links will usually have a lot more info that what I'm listing here. For example, most of links to Krikzz's flash carts have demonstration videos.

The Everdrive flash carts from Krikzz have seen a lot of hardware revisions. After a while, Krikzz decided to give his flash carts a new naming convention. X3, X5 and X7 to signify tiers.

If any one has any thoughts to add, any questions, finds any outdated information or just anything that isn't correct, please let me know!

If you want to review a flash cart yourself, let me know and I'll post it here!

• I think the only noteworthy thing about the NES, concerning flash carts, is that there's a LOT of different mappers for games. Flash carts must find a way to support them all, which I'm sure isn't easy.• NES mapper list: http://tuxnes.sourceforge.net/nesmapper.txt• Use the above link to determine which mapper a game is. Each of the below NES flash carts have a “mapper table” on the official website that you can use to determine which games are compatible.

Pros:• Can play most NES and FC games• Can play FDS games• Multi region lockout chip• Built in Game Genie support

Cons:• SRAM saving is not automatic (See "PowerMappers")• Very simple menus - hard to read and navigate• Requires adapter to be used on Famicom (no FC version)• Hasn't seen an official update in many years• Compatible with less games than the N8 Pro

For a while, I believe this was the only flash cart option for the NES. It's pretty standard in comparison to today's flash cart. You load the OS and some ROMs on a Compact Flash memory card, put the memory card in the PowerPak, put the PowerPak in your NES and play.

I won’t bother going into detail about game support. If you want to know, go to the PowerPak page on Retro Zone's site (linked above) and check out the supported mappers table. Check out this mapper list, the numbers in parenthesis are the numbers used on the compatibility table. edit: I've read that the mapper support table on the Retro Zone website isn't up to date, which might make things a little confusing.

Support for Famicom Disk System (FDS) games is amazing. To be clear about how it works, you only need your NES console, a PowerPak, and some FDS ROMs to be able to play FDS games on your NES. You would load a FDS game the same way you would load a NES game.

Since the OS/mapper files are stored on the memory card, they're easily updateable. Many updates have become available since the cart was first released. Both official and unofficial. The community has created some of their own updates for the PowerPak. For example, the member "loopy" from NesDev forums gave us Famicom Disk System support as well as added support / worked out bugs for various mappers. Loopy's additions were then added to the official mapper files. And the member "thefox" from the NesDev forums has given us save states for certain mappers.

It isn't clear to me what exactly is included in the official mappers at this point. I know that the official mapper files haven't been updated in years. I know that they include some of loopy's work, but I'm not sure if it includes his latest updates. Best bet is to copy the latest official mappers to your CF card, then copy loopy's latest mappers over it. At least, that's what I've read.

__________UPDATE: The Save State Mappers have been updated and rebranded to PowerMappers. This mapper set gives you the ability to use save states for 15 different mappers. It will allow you 5 slots per game, per save state file. When you load a ROM, you choose a save state file to load with it (which allows you five slots).

Even if you don't care about save states, you might consider this mod for the in-game menu. The in-game menu is where you save and load states, but it also allows you to reset the game or return to the PowerPak menu. So, you can reset and power cycle without ever having to get up!

Another huge benefit of the save state mappers is the way they work. They read/write directly to the CF card, no holding down reset required (see cons below). Best part is, they capture SRAM. So normally you'd have to hold down reset to back up your SRAM (see below), but if you use a save state it'll save directly to the card.

What's more, the in-game menu is very useful for SRAM saves as well. When you're playing a game that uses SRAM, when you select to return to the PowerPak menu from the in-game menu, it'll go to the screen that lets you back up the SRAM to the CF card. So either using save states or the in-game menu, you don't have to hold down reset to back up saves.

The PowerMappers have some cons, however. Some mappers might be a little buggy. Game Genie codes are ignored. I rarely use Game Genie codes on the NES, so this didn't bother me. But I'll show you a little trick. First make a copy of your POWERPAK folder on your CF card, then rename the copy to "[OLD]POWERPAK". Then copy the PowerMappers to your original POWERPAK folder. Now, if you ever want to use Game Genie codes, just rename the folders. The one that is named simply "POWERPAK" is the one that'll take effect.__________

Now for some cons of the PowerPak:

All the cons I can think of for the PowerPak aren't HUGE, they're more just annoyances than anything else. None of these cons get in the way of actually playing games, but since other NES flash carts are on the market, we have to consider them.

1.) The PowerPak uses a CF (compact flash) card. CF cards and card readers are still readily available today, but just not as common as SD has become. Retro Zone claims that CF means faster loading than SD, sighting parallel versus serial interface, but we now have flash carts that use SD and load games just as fast if not faster than the PowerPak. Some people find having to use CF cards annoying. Most people already have SD card readers (they're built into a lot of modern laptops) but might not already own a CF card reader. You must be careful with CF cards, the sockets have pins that are pretty fragile and easy to bend if you jam a card in there wrong. SD cards are a lot more durable, there's no risk of bending pins.

2.) The most annoying con, in my opinion, is the way SRAM saving works.

The PowerPak will not create save files for you automatically. You must download a blank save file from Retro Zone, you download just one and duplicate it as needed. For each game that uses save RAM, you have to manual rename a blank save file to exactly match the file name of the ROM (you must do this on the computer side). If you have a ROM and save file with matching file names, the PowerPak will automatically load the save file for you when you select that game.

So, the PowerPak won’t automatically create save files, but what's even worse is that SRAM is not written back to the CF card automatically either! This is easily my least favorite part of the PowerPak. When you're playing a game that uses SRAM, before you shut the console off, you must hold the console’s reset button for 5 seconds then choose an option to backup the SRAM to the CF card. Failure to do this means your save file will not be written back to the CF card!

The downside to all of this is that having to do things manual can be very annoying. And since you must manually back up the saves, there's the possibility of losing save data (like if the power goes out unexpectedly, or you simply forget to hold reset before powering off the console). The upside is that you could create multiple save files for each game, if you needed to. And since they don't back up automatically, if you accidentally delete a save file or save over the wrong slot or something, you’re not screwed.

[edit] One work around for this SRAM mess is the unofficial PowerMappers, mentioned above. PowerMappers will write saves states directly to the CF card without having to hold reset. And since the save states capture SRAM, you can use it as a sort of pseudo way of saving. The only downside is that you still have to manual create a save state file for each game. The PowerMappers' in-game menu also has the ability to reset to the PowerPak menu. When playing a game that uses SRAM, if you choose this option you'll be brought to the screen that lets you back up SRAM, so you don't have to hold reset.[/edit]

3.) The PowerPak menus are VERY basic. Simple white text on a black background. You don't need flashy menus to play games, but the PowerPak menus can be hard to look at. I find it hard to browse my games folder. It's also hard to be descriptive with file names when you want to have multiple versions of the same game. And the menu isn’t kind to overscan, so the top line might be cut off on some TVs. Overall, the menus are very unpleasant.

4.) ROMs are not alphabetically sorted. When you browse to your ROMs folder on the PowerPak, the games will just be in whatever order you put them on the card in. A fix is to download a sorting app. It's easy, it's just a small app that takes two seconds to sort your CF card. But it is an extra step that seems kind of annoying when other flash carts on the market today will auto sort games for you. The only other work around is to copy all the games at once. But this is annoying if you already have a few dozen on there and you want to add one or two. You'd have to erase all the games from the card, then copy them all back.

5.) There's no Famicom version of the PowerPak. This isn't really a con, but I suppose it's worth mentioning. Some people use a Famicom and not a NES. If you want to use the PowerPak on a Famicom, you must use an adapter. The N8 flash cart comes in a NES and a FC version.

6.) There hasn't been an official software update for the PowerPak for some time now. If you download the mapper files from Retro Zone, the date modified shows 10/19/2010. Luckily there has been a few unofficial updates, but the PowerMappers is the only update I've come across that's worth mentioning.

Does anyone know of any other unofficial updates for the PowerPak that are worth mentioning? Please share!

It might sound like I'm being very critical of the PowerPak, but I'm not. Most of these cons are relatively minor. It DOES play games (that it supports playing) and it does it well. The only major con is the very manual way it handles save data, which is super annoying, but very few NES games have save data anyway.

Pros:• All the features of the PowerPak and more!• Auto SRAM backup (except for FDS games)• Optional USB port for developers• Both NES and FC cart versions available

Cons: • Only 1 save state slot per game

This overview of the N8 assumes that you have read above about the PowerPak.

The Everdrive N8 basically took all my minor complaints with the PowerPak and fixed them, then added even more features! As far as I know, the N8 is capable of everything the PowerPak can do, plus more.

The N8 uses SD cards and can load games fast. SRAM (save game data) is backed up automatically, no need to hold the rest button to back up saves to the memory card. The only exception is FDS games, which you still need to hold reset to back up saves for (FDS games don't have a save file, they save inside the ROM).

The Everdrive N8 Pro is an updated version of the original N8. It can do everything the original version can do and more. It looks like it supports all known mappers. It supports 99 save states per game (the original N8 only supported 1 save state per game). It has an in-game menu. Full comparison can be found in the chart below.

This isn't exactly a flash cart, it's more appropriately called a drive emulator, but it works very similar to flash carts. It's equal parts flash cart, driver emulator, and backup device. I plan to put this here as well as the drive emulator section.

• Holds 255 disk sides (128Mbit flash) with a built-in game selection menu.• Write games to FDSStick over USB, then connect to a FDS RAM adapter to play.• Push the button to change disks (once for side A, twice for side B, etc.) or hold to eject.• Leave the USB side connected to run games directly from a PC.• Read and write disks from an FDS drive with an adapter cable (not included).• Game Doctor disk format is fully supported.

This YouTube video isn't explained it weel. Just note that the user in that YouTube video has an older version of the stick with less memory.

Which NES flash cart would I recommend?

If you’re on a budget, I would recommend the original N8. If you want the Rolls Royce, get the N8 Pro. The FDSSTICK is only for FDS games, it's not a good choice if you want a flash cart for NES/FC games.

Some important info regarding SNES flash carts:

• Some SNES carts contain a special enhancement chip or co-processor. Popular examples would be the GSU (aka Super FX) found in Star Fox and Yoshi's Island, the SA-1 found in Super Mario RPG, the DSP1 found in Super Mario Kart, or the S-DD1 found in Star Ocean. They are proprietary hardware; you can't buy them. For this reason, it's not easy implementing the ability to play such games on SNES flash carts. There are exceptions, however.

• The DSP chip can more easily be used with SNES flash carts. Either directly on board the cart, or through a piggyback fashion. It's because the DSP is the only enhancement chip that doesn't control access to the ROM data.

• Some SNES flash carts were made before the cloned SNES lockout chip was created, but have since updated to it. If you're buying second hand, you might want to check to see what kind of lockout chip it has (if any). If you're buying new, don't worry, as far as I know all SNES flash carts now have the cloned lockout chip.

• The limitations of the clone CIC: The clone CIC will allow you to boot a cart on any region consoles. However, some games have a region check in the ROM data that is separate from the lockout chip ("This game is not designed for..." message). These games can be patched to remove the region check. You only have to worry about this when trying to play NTSC-U/J games on a PAL consoles, or vise versa.

link: http://www.tototek.com/pio/main1/SUBMEN ... flash1.jpgPrice: $60 (plus shipping from China) - Looks like the Super Flash Cart is no longer available, but I will keep this info up anyway. Read on if you’re interested in how flash carts worked before they started using removable storage. Otherwise, just skip this one.

This flash cart is not nearly as user friendly as modern flash carts, but I feel like it can still be a good option. It now contains the clone CIC lockout chip, which all current SNES flash carts use, but that's just about all it shares with newer SNES flash carts.

It's worth noting that the Super Flash Cart now includes the clone lockout chip that works in every region, but it didn't use to. If buying used, you may want to find out what lockout chip is installed on it. Older versions would include NTSC-U/J lockout chips only, and PAL users would have to install the lockout chip themselves, or otherwise use the T-connector (more details on the T-connector below).

The most obvious problem with this flash cart, by today's standards, is no removable storage. As already explained, newer flash carts use memory cards (like SD or CF) in which to store game ROMs. The Super Flash Cart does not. It has internal memory. You get 64Mb to store game ROMs, and that's all you ever have. This has two drawbacks.

One, the obvious, is the limited size. SNES games can range from 4Mb to 48Mb (that's Megabits, not MegaBytes). So, while it's big enough for the largest officially released games, it's not big enough to hold your entire game collection at once. You can hold a max of four games at once. That means any time you want to put different games on the cart you must reflash it.

And two, since there's no removable media, there's no chance to easily update the cart. But don't worry, this cart is so limited in features that updates won’t do you much.

You can load a maximum of four ROMs to the cart at once, as long as they don't exceed 64Mb in combined size. If you load just one ROM onto the cart, when you put the cart in your SNES and power it on it'll boot right to the game (flash carts that use removable media to store games will always boot to a menu first). If you put more than one ROM on the cart at a time, when you power it on you'll be presented with a menu to choose which game to load.

You're not only limited in the number of games you can store on the cart at once, you're also limited to holding just one SRAM file at a time. That sounds horrible, I know, but consider most of the time you're only going to have one ROM stored on the cart at a time, only being able to have one SRAM doesn't matter so much. So, what do you do about the limit of one save file at a time? Let me get back to that.

A programmer is needed to flash the cart. It's simple, though. Think of the flash cart as an SD card, and think of the programmer as the card reader you'd use for the SD card. The only real problem with the programmer is that it interfaces with your PC via a parallel port (needs to support EPP mode). Remember how you use to hook your printer up before USB? It was with the parallel port. Unless you have an old computer, chances are good that you don't have a parallel port. If you have a desktop, you could probably get an add-on card.

The programmer requires its own software in order to work. You use all the programmer's functions with the software. I know that the software works on XP, but I have no idea if it works on more modern versions of Windows.

So, this all sounds complicated, but it really isn't. Plug the programmer into your computer, both parallel and USB cables (parallel cable is for data, USB is just for power). Plug a SNES cart or the Super Flash Cart into the programmer. Launch the software for the programmer. Now choose to read ROM data, read/write SRAM, or flash game(s) to the Super Flash Cart.

Remember how I said you can only hold one SRAM save at a time? This is how you work around that. The programmer can read and write the SRAM on the flash cart. So, if you want to switch to another game, you can backup the SRAM and store it on your PC. You can also write the SRAM back to the flash cart.

What's more, you can use legit SNES carts with the programmer. You can dump ROM data (create your own ROMs from your carts). You can also read and write the SRAM on legit carts! This means you can back up your saves, and restore them if needed. You can change batteries without losing your saves, or just back them up in case. You can swap the SRAM between legit carts, the flash cart, and emulators! Although, emulator saves might need to be converted first. This has many benefits. If this is something that interests you, read my mini review of the Retrode below!

The Super Flash Cart can optionally support DSP1 games with the T-connector (sold separately).

Here's how it works: You plug the T-connector into your SNES, plug the Super Flash Cart on top of the T-Connector, then plug a legit cart that contains the DSP1 chip (but not SRAM) into the side of the T-Connector. The T-connector piggybacks the DSP1 for use with the flash cart.

This might seem... well... lame, clunky, etc. Who wants that monstrosity plugged into their SNES? Well, I can say one positive thing about it: You don't have to rob the DSP1 chip from a legit cart like you do with other SNES flash carts. Why does that matter? Read my thoughts about preservation below this post.

Note: The T-connector use to also be used for the lockout chip. The Super Flash Cart now has the cloned lockout chip that works on any region, so you no longer need to worry about that.

Cons:• SRAM not automatic• Very basic menus** • Discontinued – No more updates expected• Files are not auto-sorted

You more or less get the same functionality from the SNES PowerPak that you would from the Super Everdrive. The major differences are: The Super Everdrive uses SD cards while the SNES PowerPak uses CF cards. The Super Everdrive supports 8 lines of Game Genie codes, the SNES PowerPak supports 5 lines. They both have simple menus, but I think the Super Everdrive's menus are much more pleasant to look at. The Super Everdrive supports a max ROM size of 60 Mb, while the SNES PowerPak supports a max ROM size of 96 Mb. The biggest difference, in my opinion, is that SRAM is handled automatically with the Super Everdrive while it's manual with the SNES PowerPak.

The SNES PowerPak supports a modified version of Star Ocean. The largest officially released SNES game was 48 Mb, but the SNES PowerPak supports a max ROM image of 96Mb. You might be thinking, "So, what?" Well, the only real benefit you get from that right now is Star Ocean. This game was not released outside of Japan but has since been translated by fans. However, the game uses the S-DD1 enhancement chip, which is not currently supported by the SNES PowerPak. However, there's a hack that decompresses all the graphics, removing the need for the S-DD1 and making it playable on the SNES PowerPak. However, since the graphics are decompressed, the ROM size becomes 96Mb (which is double the size of the largest officially released game). So, it's only playable on a flash cart that can load a ROM as large as 96Mb.

Like the NES PowerPak, SRAM is not handled automatically. For each game that requires SRAM saves, you need to manually put an SRAM file on the CF card. You need to manually rename the file the same name as your ROM so that it'll automatically load with the ROM. To back up the SRAM to the CF card, you need to hold reset on your SNES for 5 seconds to go back to the menus. Having to hold reset to backup the save data gives you the possibility to accidentally lose your progress. I go into more detail about this in my overview of the NES PowerPak.

The menus are very basic, similar to the NES PowerPak. They can just be hard to look at, especially when browsing for games. There's also a limit to the amount of characters that can be displayed for each file, making navigating through your game list that much more difficult. It makes giving descriptive names to a game hard, especially if you want to have multiple versions of the same game.

**However, there's an unofficial upgrade for the SNES PowerPak that gives us MUCH better looking menus, and some other nice features as well. It requires you to not only update the OS files on the CF card, but also the boot ROM (which can now be done with just the CF card).

For any SNES PowerPak owner, I highly recommend upgrading to this custom firmware. The menus are MUCH better to look at. The font is easy reading, the menus can display more characters for each file name, the menus work more intuitively. There's a small amount of customizing you can do to the menus (a few different backgrounds to choose from, different cursors, etc). There are some other improvements as well, like better load time, and it fixes bugs found in the stock firmware, but the main attraction is better looking menus.

The SNES PowerPak does not automatically sort files. When browsing your games on the CF card using the PowerPak, they will not be alphabetized. This is very annoying, although there's a simple fix. You can get a very simple drive sorting app. They're easy to use. On your PC, you just launch the app and tell it to sort the CF card (or specify a folder, like your games folder since that's the only one you'll really need to have alphabetized), hit a button, and done! It takes all of a few seconds. However, it IS an extra step, and the Super Everdrive can sort files by itself.

*Like the Super Everdrive, the SNES PowerPak can support the DSP1 chip in the same way. When the SNES PowerPak was first released, you had the option whether or not to include the DSP1 chip preinstalled (if you chose not to include it, you could add it yourself if wanted). But after a while, it was sold with the DSP1 chip already installed and you did not have an option not to include it. So if you’re buying used, be sure to check if it has the DSP1 installed or not.

When the SNES PowerPak was first released, it did not include the cloned CIC lockout chip. So if you're buying second hand, you'll want to ask if it has the clone CIC or not.

This is the Rolls Royce of SNES flash carts. The original hardware was named Sd2snes. The FPGA that was used in the original version was becoming harder to source, so they went with a newer incarnation which happened to be more powerful. And so the name was changed to Sd2snes Pro. It supports everything the original Sd2snes did, but since it has a more powerful FPGA there are hopes for some new features. The name had to be changed to FXPAK Pro since SD is trademarked.

If you want enhancement chip support outside of DSP1, this is your only choice! It’s a little annoying that there is still no menu support for cheat codes. Hopefully that’ll get implemented already. And with the more powerful “Pro” hardware, there’s speculation of adding save state support.

Which SNES flash cart would I recommend?

So to sum it up: If you want the best game compatibility, then you must get the FXPAK Pro. If you want the best value, then get the Super Everdrive X5.

Earlier versions of the Everdrive 64 needed to rob a lockout chip from a real N64 cart. Nintendo used a few different model lockout chips in N64 carts, so this meant you couldn’t get 100% compatibility on the ED64. However, all current versions of the ED64 have a cloned lockout chip that can emulate every model lockout chip in every region. If you’re buying used, you should check with the seller which type of lockout chip is in there.

Cons:In order to back up your saves to the SD card, you must press the console reset button before turning off the console. Failure to reset the console means that your save data will be lost! The X7 writes your save data back to the SD card automatically (you don’t have to press reset).

The X7 only has a couple of benefits over the v2.5. You don’t have to press reset to backup your saves, and it has a real time clock. As far as I know, there’s only 1 N64 game that uses the real time clock: Animal Crossing. The X7 also has a USB port, but that’s only useful for developers.

This tool cost an additional $20 and requires a 64drive to work. Unfortunately, you cannot use it without a 64drive as it appears to re-purpose some of the hardware in the 64drive in order to function. It works similar to the Retrode. Check the website for more info.

EverDrive-GB X series comparison:• [EverDrive-GB X5] Same as X7 minus save states, in-game menu and RTC• [EverDrive-GB X3] Same as X5 but required reboot in menu to save game progress stored in SRAM (Like Mega-X3 or ED64-V2.5)

It’s hard to beat the X3 for the price. The only real drawback with the X3, in my opinion, is that you have to reset to the menu in order to backup the save data. This bothers me because I always worry about forgetting to do that and losing my save. I guess the upside for the GB though is that not many games save! It looks like this is the only thing the X5 will get you over the X3, so you just have to decide if that’s worth the price.

The X7 has a real time clock, which might be important to you (Pokemon). Save states and an in-game menu are nice, but a luxury. The X3 is all that you need if you just want a no-frills way to play games.

Features:• Max ROM size: 4MByte• Max SAVE RAM size: 32KByte• Save States function and In-Game menu function (*)• Instant loading• SMS and SG-1000 games are supported• Low power consumption• High quality 4-layers PCB• Soft reset to menu• Micro SD cards are supported• OS supports up to 1000 files per folder(*) Due the hardware specifics, in-game menu and save state function does not work with Japanese Mark-III and Genesis/MegaDrive with Power Base Converter

This is your only real choice for a Master System flash cart these days. Another option would be a Genesis / MegaDrive Everdrive that can load SMS and function as a Power Base Converter on a Genesis or MegaDrive.

The 64M and 32M seem to be exactly the same, the only difference being the size of the internal memory (64Mb versus 32Mb). Remember that 32 Megabits is equal to 4 Megabytes.

The MD Pro Tototek flash carts works just like to the Super Flash Cart from Tototek, which is reviewed above. I suggest you read the Super Flash Cart review to get an idea of how it works. edit: The new FlashKit MD from Krikzz is another very similar device for the Genesis / MegaDrive. It works the same way, but does not require a parallel port.

Important note on the flash carts below. Krikzz has implemented a new nomenclature for his Genesis / MegaDrive flash carts. They were formerly the Mega Everdrive and the Everdrive MD. The Mega Everdrive is comparable to the new X7, and the Everdrive MD v3 is comparable to the X5. Comparison tables can be found in each spoiler tag.

This is a Genesis flash cart (similar feature-wise to the Mega Everdrive X7) that can also emulate the entire Sega CD add-on. Meaning, you can use this to play Sega CD games on a Genesis without the Sega CD attached!

This really comes down to deciding which features you want and balancing that with the price. Keep in mind that Krikzz announced a new product that will compete with the MegaSD, so you may want to wait for that to come out before making a decision.

This flash cart works very similar to the way other Tototek flash carts work. One notable difference is that the programmer is built into the flash cart (which is usually a separate piece of hardware).

This is part flash cart, part ODE, part AV mod! You can boot CD or HuCard games via an SD card. It also offers composite and RGB AV output via a Genesis / MegaDrive model 2 mini-DIN style output. To quote the above link...

Super SD System 3 connects to your PC Engine console by means of the expansion port (also compatible with Core Grafx, Core Grafx2 and Super Grafx models) emulating not only CD-ROM units but also System Cards, while at the same time it provides high-quality RGB video output.

Pros:• Supports almost every 2600 game• ROMs are stored on removable media• Firmware is able to be upgraded

Cons:• Files will not auto sort

As far as I can tell, this is the only flash cart available for the Atari 2600. So if there's anything to complain about, it's not like you have a choice. And since it's the only 2600 flash cart available, there's nothing to compare it to (which is the sole purpose of my reviews). That being the case, I'm basically just copy and pasting info here. I'm only putting this here because I aim to have a complete list of all available flash carts.

The Harmony cart works very similar to most modern flash carts. Games are stored on removable media (SD or micro SD, depending on which version of the cart you get). But unlike most modern flash carts, ONLY games are stored on the SD card. Any firmware and OS files are on internal storage. Thankfully though, they made it possible to update the firmware. When an update is available, you plug the Harmony cart into a computer via USB to flash the new firmware to the internal storage.

The only con I can see is that files are not automatically sorted. Just like the PowerPak flash carts, when you browse to your games folder, the games will be listed in whatever order you copied them in. And just like the PowerPaks, there's two easy fixes. One, copy all your games to the SD card at once. The only problem with this is if you already have games on the SD card then wish to add more. You'd have to delete them all then recopy them all. The other fix is to use a drive sorting app.

The Harmony cart is available in a few different flavors. I'll just copy and paste the basic info about them:

SD version: The SD version of Harmony is available in Standard ($60) or Deluxe ($80) editions. The standard edition includes just the cartridge and a plain paper manual. You supply your own SD card and USB-mini B cable. The deluxe edition includes a color printed manual, a USB-mini B cable, and a 2GB (or larger) SD or SD-HC card. On the card are the programming software, drivers, online manual and homebrew games that you are encouraged to try such that you may one day purchase them from the AtariAge store.

microSD version: The microSD version of Harmony is only available in the Standard edition ($60). If you desire the Deluxe edition, look at the SD version of Harmony. The standard edition includes just the cartridge and a plain paper manual. You supply your own SD card and USB-mini B cable.

Encore: Harmony Encore ($85) is a special Harmony cartridge that supports games up to 512k bytes. This includes the modern homebrew games that are too large to be played on the Harmony cartridge. While Harmony will play at least 98% of all Atari 2600 games, the Harmony Encore targets 100% of them. For just a little more, you can future-proof your Atari 2600 gaming needs! Currently, Harmony Encore is only available in a Standard edition, in either SD or microSD versions. This includes just the cartridge, a plain paper manual, and an addendum that highlights the new features. You supply your own SD card and USB-mini B cable.

So there you have it. The original Harmony cart supports about 98% of the 2600 library, the Encore edition aims to support 100% of all 2600 games. If you want more info, I suggest you check out the links on this page. The online manual has a lot of info, and I'm sure the forums have even more.

Pros: • Games are stored on removable storage (SD)• OS/firmware can be updated via SD card• Includes ready to use SD card• Well made menu system• Games load fast (near instant)• Lifetime warranty

Cons:• ???

Just like the Harmony cart above, as far as I can tell, the 5200 Ultimate SD has no competition. When looking for 5200 flash carts, I became aware of a few others but it is unclear to me if they're still available for purchase. And even if they were, they would be completely out shined by the Ultimate SD.

The 5200 Ultimate SD seems to work like any recent flash cart. Put some ROMs on an SD card, put the SD cart in the flash cart and play. OS and firmware can be updated from the SD card.

The menus look fantastic. Seriously, check out the video in the link. I think other flash cart developers should take a note from this guy. There's an options page that looks like it has some useful things. There's an options screen where you can customize the look of the menu some (like sounds and color) and turn on/of several of the flash cart's features. Files will be auto sorted alphabetically. A lot of flash carts for older consoles are designed in a way that makes auto sorting not feasible. It's much appreciated that this cart was designed in a way that allows for a nice menu system with auto file sorting.

The price tag might be toward the higher end of what we're use to paying for flash carts these days, but considering the features of this cart, it looks like it would be money well spent. It's definitely well designed. And while I haven't ever examined one in person, I would assume that it's well made since it boasts a life time replacement warranty. If the cart ever stops working (with the exception of misuse) you can have it repaired or replaced at no cost.

NeoSD AES is the first flash cartridge available on the market for the legendary NeoGeo AES. Compatible with all the official catalogue, in addition to any homebrew game, this is the perfect device for getting everything you can out of your favourite game console.

Top-quality hardware. 768 MB flash memory, enough to save any game on the market. ARM Cortex M4 processor at 168MHz, 1 MB flash memory and 128 MB RAM. Mounting two Lattice XP2 FPGAsA simple and intuitive graphic interface, fast menu browsing. You can filter your games by genre or create your own lists of favourites. You can access the menu from the game screen by means of a simple combination of customizable buttons.Runs unpatched games, emulating the protections of the original cartridgesThe perfect complement for homebrew developers. Lets homebrew games access the features of expanded hardware (banking on S ROM, increasing bank area space)Regular cartridge software updates free of charge.You can choose the game region with no need for any other accessory; it is also compatible with Universe BIOS (UniBIOS). Compatible with game consoles from any region.

All the necessary tools are included to convert your games into a compatible format, for both homebrew developments and testing.

As for loading times when it comes to playing, we should not forget that there will only be such times when we change from one game to another. By default, when the system starts up the last game loaded on the cartridge flash memory is shown, as it is not volatile. Once the ROM is loaded into the NeoSD memory, it behaves as if it were an original game.

NeoSD MVS is the first flash cartridge available on the market for the legendary NeoGeo MVS arcade board. Compatible with all the official catalogue, in addition to any homebrew game, this is the perfect device for getting everything you can out of your favourite system.

Top-quality hardware. 768 MB flash memory, enough to save any game on the market. ARM Cortex M4 processor at 168MHz, 1 MB flash memory and 128 MB RAM. Mounting two Lattice XP2 FPGAsA simple and intuitive graphic interface, fast menu browsing. You can filter your games by genre or create your own lists of favourites. You can access the menu from the game screen by means of a simple combination of customizable buttons.Compatible with any MVS board model, including multi-slot boards.Runs unpatched games, emulating the protections of the original cartridgesThe perfect complement for homebrew developers. Lets homebrew games access the features of expanded hardware (banking on S ROM, increasing bank area space)Regular cartridge software updates free of charge.You can choose the game region with no need for any other accessory; it is also compatible with Universe BIOS (UniBIOS). Compatible with boards from any region, allowing AES mode gameplay with no need to modify the BIOS.

All the necessary tools are included to convert your games into a compatible format, for both homebrew developments and testing.

As for loading times when it comes to playing, we should not forget that there will only be such times when we change from one game to another. By default, when the system starts up the last game loaded on the cartridge flash memory is shown, as it is not volatile. Once the ROM is loaded into the NeoSD memory, it behaves as if it were an original game.

NeoPocket GameDrive

https://stoneagegamer.com/neopocket-gamedrive-ngpc-style.html

Do you know of any flash carts that I'm missing? I am aware of a few flash carts that I haven't listed yet (like Atari, Infinite NES Lives, and a few others) but I'm sure there's more that I don't know about. I'm not really interested in anything that's massively out dated and isn't readily available for purchase in either the new or used market.

If you'd like to write a review for a flash cart, please let me know! Reviews don't have to be large, I'm really only looking for the major pros and cons for each cart.

Last edited by Ziggy587 on Thu Nov 15, 2018 1:14 pm, edited 13 times in total.

An optical drive emulator, or ODE, is exactly that. It emulates an optical drive. This is sort of a broad term, but for our purposes it really boils down to just one thing: A way to boot games on a console other than the optical disc drive. I'll use this section to list any alternative method of booting games on disc based console, even if it isn't technically an ODE. Generally, an ODE is a piece of hardware that physically replaces the optical disc drive in a console. However, there are some consoles that have alternative boot methods (usually through software) that leave the optical drive intact. I think I'll split it up into hardware ODE and software alternative boot methods.

Adding this section is way over due. I'm more or less just going to dump info here, then hopefully clean it up over time.

Optical Drive Emulators - HARDWARE

Neo SD Loader (Neo Geo CD)

http://furrtek.free.fr/sdloader/

Loading times reduced x4 on average (compared to 1x CD drive)Non-destructive installationDIP-switch and region settingsBackup and restore saves to the SD cardCustomisable menuEasy firmware updatesCan co-exist with the original optical drive

"It could be called an ODE (Optical Drive Emulator) because the benefits are similar, but technically speaking it isn't really one. It doesn't simulate an optical drive, it provides the console with a direct interface to an SD card and patches the BIOS to load games from it instead. From an user standpoint though, it doesn't change much."

GDEMU is compatbile with VA1 model Dreamcasts from all regions. IMPORTANT: VA2 model is not compatible. Mating GDEMU with VA0 model mainboard is possible but will cause permanent damage to the device. See installation instructions.

PSIO is a Flash Cartridge that plugs into your PlayStation’s Parallel I/O Port. It allows you to instantly see your games running from an SD Card on real hardware making it the only way to genuinely play backups on your console.

Primary Features:

Loads disc images from an SD Memory Card.Supports SD Cards ranging anywhere in between from 8 GB (SDHC) to 512+ GB (SDXC).Supports hot swapping of SD Cards within the Menu System.Easily select software using a clean, simple and functional Menu System design.Software images load instantly with no “Copy to Memory” routines unlike other Flashcarts.Compatible with 99.8% of all software titles.All firmwares are locally upgradeable. No special cables or dongles are required.To select a new software image, simply hit ‘Reset’ on the console and re-select an image from the Menu System.Supports Multi-Disc titles.Supports CDDA and XA audio channels.Supports loading of disc images via USB (Windows only).A Switch Board kit is included free with each cartridge purchase (wire and label also included).Supports BIN, ISO and IMG files.Future additional features can be added due to the endless update abilities of PSIO.

Menu System:

Smooth, easy to use Menu System with many useful shortcuts and options.Clean simple layout combined with 2D and 3D graphics.Displays custom ‘Cover Art’ images.Displays custom ‘Wallpaper’ images.Supports switching of Video Modes in real-time.Has real-time sound effects and background music.Multiple colour selector bar options.Has a built-in search function.Allows either classic western or Japanese PlayStation button navigation.Dynamic or automatic detection of the HC05 license type.Displays advanced PlayStation information such as the BIOS type and checksum.Enables Fastboot support (skipping of the Sony BIOS for quick boot times).Allows booting of original discs from the CD-ROM drive.Supports full custom centring of the screen position.Dynamic pop-up animations.Takes advantage of DUAL-SHOCK controllers by vibrating whilst navigating.Can display a custom background (wallpaper).Supports Multi-Tap, DUAL-SHOCK and Lightgun peripherals.

Much more than just an ODE, this device replaces the entire CD add-on for a Turbografx or PC Engine. You can boot CD or HuCard games via an SD card. So it's part ODE, part flash cart. It also offers composite and RGB AV output via a Genesis / MegaDrive model 2 mini-DIN style output. To quote the above link...

Super SD System 3 connects to your PC Engine console by means of the expansion port (also compatible with Core Grafx, Core Grafx2 and Super Grafx models) emulating not only CD-ROM units but also System Cards, while at the same time it provides high-quality RGB video output.

This little device can replace the entire drive of a Famicom Disk Drive system. You still need the RAM adapter, however.

It's a Famicom Disk System (FDS) drive emulator.Write games to FDSStick over USB, then connect to a FDS RAM adapter to play.Contains 256Mbit internal flash. Enough space to hold every FDS game and more! Loads a built-in game menu on startup.Push the button to change disk sides (once for side A, twice for side B, etc.) or hold to eject.Read and write disks from an FDS drive with an adapter cable (not included).Connect both sides of FDSStick to run games directly from a PC.Game Doctor disk format is fully supported.Firmware is upgradable over USB.

There are now a number of items available so you can make your own homebrew / repro carts using all brand new parts (no donor carts or donor parts required). Some require soldering, and some require no soldering whatsoever! For the ones that do not require soldering, they are technically flash carts. But unlike the above flash carts that are made to store many games on an SD card, these are made to flash just one game at a time (so you can make a repro/homebrew cart). You could always reflash another game to the cart, though.

No soldering required:

No soldering required, these boards are fully assembled. The catch is you need a programmer to be able to write the games to the cart. The programmers are specific to the carts they are intended for. The upside is that you only have to purchase the programmer once, and you can program an infinite amount of carts with it. You can even reprogram these carts.

In this sense, these are technically flash carts. But since they're only intended to have one game on them at a time, they're mostly intended to be used for repros. These days, the Internet tends to view a flash cart as something you can dump an entire ROM set onto an SD card and choose any game from a menu system.

The process of flashing these carts is very similar to how the Tototek flash carts work. I went over this process in the first post for the Tototek Super Flash Cart.

The programmers are made to, first and foremost, program these carts. However, often times they have additional benefits such as being able to read (dump) the ROM from authentic cartridges, or read/write the save memory from authentic cartridge.

If you're interested in the ability to dump your own ROMs, or being able to backup/restore save games from carts, check out the Retrode.

A number of PCBs can currently be found on eBay. Just search "[console name] PCB". Quality may vary.

Cart shells can be found on Amazon, and quite a few of them are Prime eligible. I've seen Genesis, SNES, NES, and GB. Likely to be more. They're probably also on eBay, but I've happened to find more on Amazon.

OSH Park / GitHub / Et Cetera

A number of shared projects can be found on OSH Park and GitHub, more can probably be found elsewhere including forums. Instead of buying in stock items from a web store, you can have the PCBs manufactured yourself. The downside is there's usually a minimum quantity, but the upside is that it'll usually be a cheaper price per cart.

Since these are not retail / ready made products, you will need a little know-how. They may not include instructions beyond a BOM (parts list). It will be up to you to make sure they're manufactured with the correct specs, et cetera.

Note: 63mil (1.6mm) is the proper board thickness for Genesis carts, but this is too thick for NES and SNES. You will damage your NES/SNES cart slot with this thickness, if you somehow manage to insert the cart at all.

OSH Park offers 32mil (0.8mm) board thickness, but this is actually too thin for NES/SNES (although I think it's the correct spec for GB/C/A). 0.8mm thickness will work for SNES, even though it is out of spec, but you may run into issues if your cart slot is worn. It's not recommended to have the board thickness out of spec.

You can download the board files from OSH Park and order the correct board thickness from another manufacture (1.2mm).

If you know of any PCB, cart shells, etc or shared projects that I have not listed above, please post links in this thread!

Last edited by Ziggy587 on Thu Jun 15, 2017 9:56 pm, edited 2 times in total.

The Retrode is a fantastic little device that enables you to do some pretty cool things. In short, it interfaces video game carts and controllers with your computer via USB. No drivers are required.

The Retrode comes with a SNES/SFC and a Sega Genesis/MegaDrive cart slot, as well as two controller ports for said consoles. There's also the ability to use plug in adapters to support more consoles.

The Retrode works similar to the way you'd use an SD card and card reader with your computer. You plug a cart into the Retrode, and plug the Retrode into your computer. The Retrode will show up under "My Computer" in Windows OS and you can browse it just like you would an SD card. You will find the ROM for whatever game cart is inserted. If the game uses saves, you'll also find the save file.

The Retrode will allow you to use your original carts and controllers with emulators. If you set up an emulator correctly, you can use a cart directly with the emulator. You can even read and write game saves directly to the cart. The Retrode works not only with a PC, but basically anything that supports USB. Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, Raspberry Pi, Ouya, etc. There's some pretty neat videos on the net if you're interested.

My favorite part about the Retrode is just the fact that you can have access to the ROM and SRAM on a cart. You can use the Retrode to copy the ROM from a cart to your computer (no, you can not write ROMs to a cart!) as well as read and write the SRAM on a cart. This means you can back up the saves from your carts, and restore them if need be! You can swap saves to/from a friend's cart. You could even transfer the save you were using in an emulator or a flash cart to a legit cart and vise versa!

edit: Sadly, the Retrode isn't currently being produced. There's hope that some will be manufactured in the future, though.

In short, the USB CopyNES is a device that you install in your NES so that you can interface the console with a PC. Utilizing software on the PC side, you can do a few things. Here's the list from the RetroUSB website.

• Dump NES games and Famicom (with pin adapter) games• Dump and rewrite saves• Reverse engineer games and mappers• Test and debug your homebrew on the system with a flash cart• Flash Glider, PowerPak Lite, UFROM, NSF, and RAM carts• Fix Game Action Replay carts after replacing the battery

Cartridge Save File Preservation - Backup, Transfer & Restore Your Save Games / MY LIFE IN GAMINGThey cover the Retrode, CopyNES, Retron5, and a few other devices that have been released but not yet covered in this thread! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tVJYdZRAXg

Backup PS1 and PS2 game save data - Free McBoot will allow you to easily backup and restore game save files to/from a PS1 or PS2 memory card to/from a USB stick. You don't need any specials apps, just the File Manager that's included with Free McBoot. For those that don't know, Free McBoot is an app launcher (like the Homebrew Channel for the Wii) that installs on a PS2 memory card. Jagosaurus has a wealth of information here: http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... 25&t=50574

Super UFO Pro 8 - If you are interested in dumping your own ROMs or backing up and restoring saves to carts, the Super UFO Pro 8 is also worth looking into. Check out this video review from My Life in Gaming for more information.

RetroN 5 - I've read that you can use one to backup and restore saves from carts. I've also read that with custom firmware you can dump your own ROMs. Unfortunately, I don't have any experience with the RetroN 5. If anyone can write something up it would be much appreciated. I want to cover how it can patch ROMs, dump ROMs, and backup and restore save files. Check out the My Life In Gaming video posted above!

Last edited by Ziggy587 on Wed Jul 03, 2019 1:15 pm, edited 8 times in total.